One thing that sustained me through the past week of feeling run down and icky was the fact that I made a big batch of Chickpea quinoa pilaf last weekend. Quinoa is a great grain high in protein as well as calcium, magnesium, iron and fiber. The dish is filling and full of nutrition while also being easy to digest and adaptable to different spices. Thanks to Isa and Terry, authors of the Veganomicon!

Chickpea Quinoa Pilaf

2 tbs olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced (or use more to taste. I didn't find this amount particularly garlicy)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs coriander seeds, crushed
several pinches ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs tomato paste
1 cup quinoa ( I used red quinoa which made the dish rather vibrant)
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 c vegetable broth

In medium stockpot, saute the onion in the olive oil for about 7 minutes. Add garlic and saute additional 2 minutes. Add tomato paste (I added the paste with the stock because I no read directions!!), spices, and salt. Saute about 1 minute.
Add quinoa and saute for 2 minutes. (I skipped this step and it didn't seem to make a huge difference.)
Add chickpeas and broth; cover and bring to a boil. Once mixture is boiling, turn heat to low, cover, and cook 18 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all the water. (This took a bit longer than 18 minutes for me. The next time I make it I might use a bit less water. Quinoa should only take about 15 minutes to cook.)
Fluff with fork and serve.


Sorry about the lack of pictures, our digital camera is broken. :-(

Feel free to use this recipe to meet the David Suzuki challenge of making at least one day a week a meat-free day!

This is mostly for Reynardine, but perhaps others will find it of interest: Atelier Kanawa is an Etsy craftperson who makes Japanese accessories, specifically for wearing with kimono.
I've been spending more time on Etsy lately and may even be starting a team for Kentucky crafters, which would be funny as I don't have an Etsy shop of my own.



Whininess you may not want to read:
This is a minor bitch but it is really annoying that I had the flu 3 weeks ago, then a recurrence of pain from a shoulder injury last week, and now bronchitis. Honestly, Universe, if you are trying to tell me something, be a little more concrete. I'm ready to listen!! Perhaps the narcotic cough suppressants the doctor gave me will help. :-/

Current Mood: sick

This is going to be a bit rambly so apologies in advance. I was listening to the Geologic Podcast today and George shared a funny story about workers at a Sewage Treatment plant in East Sussex who claimed their plant was inhabited by a zombie. Buried in the middle of the story was a line about how electromagnetic fields (in this case created by the machinery at the plant) could induce feelings of paranoia and hallucinations in people. This got me to thinking about LOST.
The hatch Desmond lived in contained a large electromagnet, strong enough to attract even small metal objects at a distance. If Desmond was exposed to this for years, it is highly likely to have produced an altered state of awareness. I decided to do a little research on magnetic fields and brain activity, and discovered this snippet in "Altering Human Brain Activity with Pulsed Magnetic Fields":

"Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) operates on the principal of magnetic induction discovered by Michael Faraday in 1831."

Dude.

So the electromagnetic present within the hatch was capable of bring down airplanes if improperly discharged. Such a strong EMF could  create hallucinations possibly in people scattered over the island, though it would be most powerful at shorter distances.

As an aside, some researchers also think fluctuations in magnetic fields, even those created by earthquakes, could explain sightings of UFOs and other paranormal phenomena. The use of TMS to treat depression and even schizophrenia is currently being studied in the US. Some researchers even think that it could be used to treat Parkinsons, and there is evidence it can stimulate savant abilities in normal people. Other researchers even claim that the use of special magnetic fields can create spiritual feelings and the sense of a godlike presence. Hmm......hey, Locke....about that vision you had...

The injera turned out pretty well, though I think next time I will be making it with all purpose flour. The wheat flour was a bit bitter. Maybe I can use teff and be authentic. I tried cooking them in a regular skillet which was a mess, but they did beautifully in my little cast iron pan. I really need to be getting a bigger one of those. I'm also coveting an enameled cast iron dutch oven, if for no other reason that the try the "Amazing No Knead Bread" I've been hearing about. Yes, it hit the blogosphere a year ago and I'm just now catching up.

I've been experimenting a bit with the pizza recipe and I think I've come up with a pretty good combination of flours. Here is a rough recipe based one on from Recipezaar which was originally created by Mr. Ed Wood.

Sourdough Pizza
2 cups proofed sourdough starter
1 tsp salt
1/2 c water
2 tbs olive oil
1 and 1/2 cups bread flour
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 c semolina flour
cornmeal

1. Put all ingredients except cornmeal in bread machine pan in the order recommended by manufacturer.
2. Select dough cycle and start.
3. When dough cycle is complete, remove from pan, place in lightly oiled bowl and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Allow to come to room temperature before proceeding. (This step creates a stronger sourdough flavor. It's optional if you don't have the time or inclination.)
4. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and form into balls.
5. With a rolling pin or your hands, flatten the balls into 10 inch rounds or a size of your liking.
   
6. Transfer to a thin baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.
7. Proof, covered, for about 45 minutes at 85 degrees F. (I did not proof for this long or at this temp..use your best judgment)
   
8. Place a baking stone (If you have one. I don't) in a cold oven and preheat for at least 15 minutes at 450 to 500 degrees F. ( I went for 525 this time)
   
9. Add your toppings to the rounds of dough.
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crust is brown. (At 525, this took more like 10-15 minutes. The crust was more of a tan color, but I'm not big on crispy pizza)
    

Current Mood: satisfied

No, this post is not about the legalization of absinthe. I've been listening to and enjoying a podcast called Wormwood. Here is a description from the show's website:

"Wormwood is a weekly, serialized mystery delivered as an MP3 podcast on our website and via the many podcatchers on the web, including iTunes. Each week, Wormwood strives to deliver a quirky ensemble drama with elements of supernatural horror and mystery. With its odd, small town setting and tragic lead character, Wormwood is designed to appeal to fans of Twin Peaks, The X-files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Supernatural, Hellblazer, and The Sandman, as well as the works of writers like Stephen King, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, and HP Lovecraft."

People have also compared it to House, mostly due to the main character's curmudgeonly nature. I can definitely see the Twin Peaks and Hellblazer influences, so if you like any of the above, you might wanna check it out. I'm only up to episode 9 though I'd like to listen to the rest of the series in a go, I'm saving it for downtime at work.

Current Mood: relaxed

Managed to use my three day weekend somewhat productively as I did a lot of baking. I've been maintaining two separate sourdough cultures; one is white flour, the other is wheat. The white flour has been for the purpose of perfecting sourdough bread and also pizza. I know sourdough pizza sounds a bit weird, but a little research on the internet indicated it is part of the secret to "authentic New York pizza". Having never eaten NY pizza, I have no idea if that is true or not.

The last time I used sourdough to make pizza, I was a little underwhelmed. It was ok, but not anything special.This time I used semolina flour for part of the flour component and let the dough rise slowly in the fridge for about 24 hours. I also baked the pizzas at 500 degrees. Apparently pizzeria ovens go much higher, but not much I can do about that. The crusts turned out pretty well. Not quite the interior structure I was expecting, but a subtle sourdough taste and a good chewy texture overall. I think I'm on the right track.

I also tried out a new biscuit recipe since I couldn't remember which one I usually use. It's been a while since I've made biscuits, apparently. I grew up a house where biscuits came from a tube, so I can't say I have any handed-down-through-the-family techniques which all Southern women are supposed to have. *shrug* So, I turned to the King Arthur Baker's Companion which usually does not disappoint. However, I think they must be using "biscuit" in the British sense. Never before had I seen a biscuit recipe that called for sugar. Kay's reaction to trying one consisted of two parts: "Tastes like shortbread" followed by "This could be your new specialty!" I was not as pleased since I was aiming for more of a buttermilk biscuit than a cookie or scone.

I also made some yummy chocolate coconut cookies that are a little like Samoas. Mmmmm. Ingredients were pretty simple, though making them required the use of a food processor to chop up the dates.

Finally, I used the wheat sourdough to start a batter to make injera probably.... Wednesday. We'll see how quickly it ripens in our somewhat cool house.

Tomorrow we're having leftovers!

Just found a link to this page this morning, so I haven't seen the movie yet, but it looks very important. One quote about it: "Picks up where Al Gore left off".

What A Way To Go
Life At The End Of Empire

A middle class white guy comes to grips with Peak Oil, Climate
Change, Mass Extinction, Population Overshoot and the demise of the
American Lifestyle.

It also interviews and makes reference to some authors whose works I have read and found thought-provoking such as Daniel Quinn, James Lovelock, Derrick Jensen, Thom Hartman, and James Kunstler.

This is not my own recipe, but one from a magazine. They are very good and if you didn't tell people, I'm willing to bet they would not guess these are vegan.

Vegan Lemon Bars
crust
1 c white flour
1/2 c vegan margarine (I recommend Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
1/4 c powdered sugar

Combine all and mix until it forms a Play-doh like mass. Press into a 9 by 9 pan, making a 1/2 inch rim of crust. Bake 20 minutes at 350 F, until set but not brown.

topping
1 c granulated white sugar*
grated zest of one lemon
3 tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Stir together sugar, lemon, zest, and salt. Combine applesauce and baking powder in a separate bowl, whisking well. It will foam. Don't freak out. :)  Combine mixtures and pour over hot crust.
Bake 50 minutes or until center is set. (It may still look a little liquid in the very center. Shouldn't be a problem.) Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

*I used sucanat the second time I made this and the molasses flavor of the sucanat overwhelmed the lemon. Use Florida Crystals or some other vegan white sugar.

Current Mood: relaxed

Damn, this has been a very long week. Work has been dragging a bit due to having to hunt down missing applications. Since we are supposed to be keeping files in digital format, the paper applications we get are scanned into our computer database system and then we don't keep hardcopies. Supposedly. Seems the lady who was doing the scanning was fired so that's going to make things really pleasant in the short term. Its tricky to meet deadlines when you're waiting a few weeks just for a document to make it through the scanning department.

Had tornadoes in the area tonight, though none really near us. Tornado watches continue throughout the night, and the local stations are getting complaints from viewers because they preempted Earl and The Office. The stations are defending themselves by saying they are obligated to provide severe weather info as a safety issue. Well, yeah, but does it really *have* to be continuous coverage? With all the high tech graphics they have at their disposal, why not a nice crawl at the bottom and maybe an inset map?

Remembering that I promised to share some recipes, what would people prefer: interesting ways to prepare vegetable sides, or veg*n main dishes? ( I am assuming those of you reading this would not have much interest in vegan desserts.) I just placed an order for Veganomicon, so I might share some photos of recipes from it also.

Micro Eco-farming is that idea that a person can create a productive, sustainable farming venture in their backyard or small acreage. The types of ventures are up to the individual's interest and can range from greenhouse tomatoes to cut flower gardens to miniature sheep. Here is some food for thought from the Micro Eco-farming website:

"MEFs collectively help communities, regions and their own countries reach food independence. Historically, the Incans fed 15 million with a three to seven-year surplus. The Chinese once fed one billion on less than 10% of their land base. Russia lifted itself out of ecomonic disaster in 1997 by having its citizens 'farm' 0.6 acre plots attached to the houses in Russian villages. 18 million of these plots totaled 15.3 million acres, and they became the most productive 'farms' in the country. In France, "potagers," or tiny home gardens or gardens allotted to villages, are everywhere. The French government estimates about a quarter of all fruits and vegetables eaten in France are home-grown. In America, today, LocalHarvest.org keeps statistics on successful eco-farm members, 45% of its member farms are less than 15 acres."

In honor of anw's Greek God meme (and birthday!), I present Hermes, God of Thieves. It's a lesser known aspect of the messenger god. My drawing skills are a little rusty, though.



Bonus points if you can figure out the model for the sketch.

I recently acquired some Workbasket magazines (ok, pamphlets, really) from the '50s. My Mom got them for me at a flea market because they have several knitting, crochet, and tatting patterns in them. The ads are hard to believe, though. I'm not going to scan them because the text pretty much speaks for itself.

"For wives who worry about the husbands
"Been wondering what in the world's gotten into your husband lately? So cranky, so jumpy, so restless? Used to sleep like a top, didn't he? But now ...
"You know, chances are he's over-coffeed. It happens. But when people switch to Postum, they notice a real change. Postum contains no caffein, can't worry the nerves or keep you awake at night.
"Postum's such a satisfying hot drink, too. Come on now, give those over-coffeed nerves a rest - with Postum!"

I'm going to guess coffee won this war, since I've never seen a jar of Postum anywhere.

Apparently wives of the '50s worried about their husbands being overworked A LOT. Which is odd, because I understand those jerks only had to work 8 hour days with 1 hour martini lunches included.

"I'm worried ... My Husband's Idea of a Good Time - Sleeping All Day Sunday!
What can you do when your husband acts like an old man .. when he doesn't enjoy anything better than sleeping all day Sunday, and is always 'too tired' to have fun - go visiting, to a movie, dancing? What's the answer for a man who has lost his strength and vigor while still young? "

In case you're dying to know, the answer is "Vitasafe High-Potency Capsules." In other words, a multi-vitamin. Drop one in his gin and tonic today!

Of course, the women reading Workbasket had more to worry about than just their husbands! The ads for "foundation garments" alone surely ramped up the anxiety level. We also have special diets like: The Famous Rice Diet! The 18-day 18-pound diet! The Dehydration Diet For Those Who Crave Sweets! and The Famous Banana Diet! Yum!

Next time I'll type up some excerpts from the article "Pizza Pie"  ("it is pronounced peet-zah").

Current Mood: befuddled

Ended up making spanakopita with all the greens. Mostly frozen spinach, but I managed to sneak some others in there, too. It turned out pretty well, but now I know why filo is such a pain in the ass to work with.  Anyone have recommendations for recipes with greens? So far, I've made collards and white beans (minus hamhock) and am considering saag of some sort (paneer, chana, etc).

Not looking forward to getting the worm bins ready to bring inside, but it needs to be done now that the weather is getting downright cold overnight. PIcking out all the black soldier fly larvae is going to be tedious, though.

Noticed recently that the art in a certain comic book has a noticeable proportion of cut and pasted art. I will say before I begin that *sometimes* this can be a good thing. Reuse of the same image for storytelling purposes is fine. David Mack reuses some of his paintings, sometimes with some alterations and that doesn't bother me. This did, though. The (main) artist on X-Factor is reusing drawings of characters like there's no tomorrow. It's obvious he's using a computer to do this, because the images are sometimes flipped and resized. The backgrounds are probably also being created by filtering city street photographs, too. Now, maybe if the copied-and-pasted images were highly detailed drawings, I could see reusing them, but these aren't. If this is the future of comic book illustration, that'll be close to the nail on the coffin for me as far as comics go. If you're an ARTIST, you should like to make art and copying the same images over and over doesn't really qualify in my book. Would we let writers (aside from Chris Claremont) get away with reusing the same phrases over and over?

And while we're on the subject of X-Factor, I guess my icon is wildly inaccurate now.

Current Mood: aggravated

I should never try and predict what the weather is going to be. It's been unseasonably cool and wet here. Rainy enough to cause flash flooding, in fact. Oh, that lovable global warming!

The garden seems to be loving the weather, though. I've got mustard green big enough to make hats out of, and the collards aren't too far behind. Spinach should be coming along soon, which is good because no one seems overly fond of the mustard greens. The banana peppers keep producing like crazy; next year I'll know not to plant so many of them. Same for the okra. So easy to grow, but a bit painful to harvest! The green beans were not so much of a success. Mexican bean beetles pretty much decimated them, though we did get some good harvests before the beetles arrived. Potatoes were also a mixed bag. The reds did ok, but the whites rotted. Growing potatoes in clay soil is a bad idea anyways, but that's all we have here.

Knitting is coming along. Trying to make a lot of hats and scarves for a craft fair. I have an idea that weaving is faster than knitting and uses much less yarn than crochet, so I'm trying to fix up a loom I got for $1 at the flea market. Now if only I knew how to use a lathe....

Current Mood: sore

So. Ever go so long without updating your journal that it then becomes kinda pointless to update? I'm there. Lots of fairly inconsequential stuff has happened, so I'll spare you that.Trying to work on some knitting and crochet projects because I know fall is just around the corner. (Allow me my illusion that it's still summer for a bit longer. It'll be darn hot here for a while yet.)

Getting the anime/manga bug again. My brother brought me the Gundam Seed Destiny anime, though I haven't gotten around to it yet. Picked up some manga for cheap at Half Price Books: Alice 19th, and Meri Puri. Alice 19th was ok, Meri Puri is...well, the story gimmick between the romantic leads is a bit...squeam-inducing for me. Beautiful art, but the story smacks of pedophilia. I'm really enjoying Ouran High School Host Club which I picked up on reynardine' s recommendation. I'll be kinda sad if there are only 8 volumes to this one, but perhaps my budget won't be. So far, Haruhi and Tamaki are my favorites, though Mori and Kyoya are intriguing.

Spoiled myself on the ending to Elfquest:The Discovery. I was having a hard time finding the issue, so I went ahead and read some plot summaries. After finally reading the issue, I guess it wasn't a horrible story, though it felt like a lot got squashed in at the end. Still not really big on the new art style, but oh well.

Really need some new icons, too.

Meant to mention this earlier, but things have been a bit crazy around here. My brother got the Fullbright, so he and his wife are headed to Ireland this fall! I'd like to go over and visit them while they are there, but I'd have to get over my fears of a) flying and b) flying over the damn ocean.

Current Mood: hopeful

So, we get the strangest neighbors. We're living close to a big campus, so it's expected we'll have rowdy college students and late night parties, and man, can you see why I'm happy to be getting outta here? Our newest neighbor takes the ever-lovin' cake, though.

Kay had told me that he'd seen the guy standing outside his door wizzing on the plants. This was at night, and well, I guess we just figured it was one of those weird "too drunk to walk up the stairs" kinda things. And then the guy did it again. We went about a week without seeing anymore weird crap. Now, there's a beer can and what looks like a half-full garbage bag sitting under his window, but I'm not picking that crap up. I do enough cleaning up the junk mail that no one else seems to care about.

I just looked out the window and I swear he's DOING IT AGAIN. In broad daylight. Now, I didn't want to be all leaning out the window going "Hey, nice party favor", but I swear he was assuming the pose. WTF? Today my icon is more appropriate that ever. I think I'm going to blast some bagpipe music in retaliation. If only the stinging nettle were growing over there.

Current Mood: pi$$ed off

I've seen an unusual number of great blue herons lately. There is one that is a frequent visitor to my parents' pond. Kay and I even saw him catch a fish when we were there last weekend. He clears off whenever the Canada geese and their two goslings show up, though. (Wish I had pictures of all of these, but I keep forgetting to take our camera when we go.) In addition to this one, I saw herons twice while driving to and from Kentucky, and also one flew *right over our apartment* here in the city one evening. The universe must be trying to tell me something.

Taught myself to tat last week. It's really not hard, though the yarn shop guy suggested I try needle tatting instead of shuttle tatting. I managed to find a tutorial on how to needle tat, and after a few false starts, made a couple of pairs of earrings.

Elfquest:The Discovery is on issue 3, and I'm a bit underwhelmed. We'll see how it ends, but the story seems to be ...simplistic. Perhaps there are more comics planned for the near future.

I've been in a bit of a rut lately. There are about a jillion things I'd like to do, or should be doing, but I just haven't got the energy or the attention span for them. I did get some spinning done on my charkha, and the new cotton combs have made it a lot better now that I can make punis. Since I should be doing something productive, time for a quiz..

Via aardy: The movie soundtrack for your life.

The rules:
1. Put your music player of choice on shuffle
2. Scene one = first song played, scene two = second, &c.
3. No cheating/skipping
4. Pass it on

[Aardy's Note: Some of the scene titles given here were altered to taste by anw; the "a.k.a." scene titles are the originals.]

My iPod is shared with Kay, so, yeah…a weird mix.

Opening Credits
Dau Rosen Coch/Mynd Am Dro (Two Red Roses/Going Walking)- Carreg Lafar
[Upbeat traditional Welsh music]

Current Mood: unmotivated

In the past month, I have: caught a snapping turtle, watched two baby Canada geese learn to forage, seen a pair of blackbirds chase a red tailed hawk, and planted corn and potatoes. Ah, spring.

Current Mood: pleased